HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội’s authorities plan to encourage the use of public transport and limit individual vehicles, moving towards eliminating private means of transport by 2025.

The plan was at the top of the agenda for Hà Nội’s Party Committee’s programme 06 draft on developing the city’s transportation network, which was discussed this morning.

Bicycles and motorcycles are the most popular means of transport chosen by the locals. As the city’s population soars, the number of private vehicles in operation has continued to rise in recent years.

According to the programme, one key task put forward by local authorities is to focus all forces on urgent transportation projects to ensure traffic safety and reduce congestion.

Participants in the discussion agreed that Hà Nội’s urban infrastructure system had yet to meet the demands of rapid urban development. Public means of transport can meet only part of the demand, while traffic congestion is still common and accident statistics remain high.

The transportation scenario in Hà Nội will become overly complicated if urgent steps are not taken, participants of today’s meeting heard.

As the locals are increasingly using electric bikes and motorbikes for transport, Party Secretary of Thanh Xuân District Vũ Cao Minh suggested halving the number of basic private transport options, including bikes and motorbikes.

As part of the plan to develop the city’s transport system, the local authorities will work with the Transport Ministry to complete procedures and kick off investment in State-funded transportation projects, such as interprovincial bus stations that reduce the burden on inner-city bus stations.

Chairman of the Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung estimated that by 2020, there will be one million cars and seven million motorbikes in the city.

Last year, the city’s People’s Council agreed on a project that would cost an estimated VNĐ2.2 billion (US$91,000), aimed at reducing traffic congestion.

At an online conference at the end of last year that included government workers and representatives of the country’s 63 provinces, Chairman Chung proposed the government should work with Hà Nội to reduce the number of personal vehicles on the road in order to eliminate traffic congestion. — VNS